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Migration and Health in Africa and the African Diaspora

Kathryn H. Jacobsen, Assistant Professor of Biology & Statistics, Calvin College
jacobsen@calvin.edu

This paper uses published epidemiological reports to compare health status between various population groups in Africa and the African Diaspora. Health status is measured by infant mortality rates, life expectancy, and the incidence and prevalence of selected communicable and non-communicable conditions, including heart disease and cancers. Comparison groups include: (1) African émigrés to non-African countries, long-term residents of those countries who are of African descent, and non-immigrant Africans, (2) migrants within Africa and persons in their home countries and their new countries of residence, and (3) rural Africans, urban Africans, and rural-urban migrants within Africa. Data tables are used to highlight selected similarities and differences in health status between comparison groups. These findings are then briefly discussed in the context of three major areas of concern related to migration and health in sub-Saharan Africa: (1) "brain drain" * the emigration of highly educated Africans, especially health professionals, to other parts of the world, (2) transportation and intra-African migration on the spread of HIV/AIDS within sub-Saharan Africa, and (3) African urbanization and environmental change.